Cinema and sport go together like bat and ball, like Rocky and Adrian, like England and penalties. It’s little wonder that sports make great movies. Cinema is, at its most basic level, visual storytelling. As screenwriters will tell you, the first rule of movies is to “show, don’t tell”. Personal victories, character journeys, and all-round triumph are shown through external action. So, what could be a more effective way of denoting victory than crossing the finish line, hitting a home run, or knocking an opponent out cold? That’s perhaps why boxing, racing, and American sports have been regularly depicted across cinema history.
The below films have been selected as examples of cinematic sporting greatness. In a truly great sports film, the sport is absolutely crucial to the character – intrinsic to who they are and their journey. In some films, the sport may have a transformative power, or say something about the players and the country in which it’s played. For instance, sports have often been depicted as an essential way of American life – great victories are the American dream come true.
The best sports films will also say something about the sport they depict – sport as an expression of the human spirit – or explore why something as basic as knocking a ball around can become a life-affirming state of mind, part of a person’s sense of self. These are the 35 greatest sports movies of all time.
35. Kingpin (1996)
The Woody Harrelson-starring bowling comedy is a sometimes-forgotten score from the Farrelly brothers’s Nineties pomp, coming between Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. Roy Munson (Harrelson) is a bowling protégé turned hook-handed sleazebag and loser. Such a loser, in fact, that his name becomes slang for being up a creek without a paddle. “A real Munson.” After discovering bowling prospect Ishmael (Randy Quaid) – an Amish manchild – Munson and Ishmael hustle their way to a high-stakes bowling tournament in Reno. The Farrellys aren’t afraid to roll their gags right down the gutter, though the film is often hysterical. The real comedy kingpin is Bill Murray as rival bowler Ernie McCracken – “Big Ern” – an obnoxious, self-serving womaniser who ranks alongside Murray’s roles in Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.